The present invention relates to a device which prevents unwanted refilling of a tank so that excess water leakage from a toilet which has a breached tank is minimised.
Toilet tanks on a toilet have a propensity to leak water which causes water damage to the bathroom if not noticed or the homeowner is away.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,071 (Clar), U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,657 (Orr), U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,891 (Antunez), U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,366 (Ray et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,448 (Campbell et al) disclose an arrangement which prevents leakage from the toilet. The above Patents discontinue the flow of water which normally refills the tank, each using a different method for stopping the flow.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,071 of Clar is disclosed as being a water saving device which has a secondary float means inside the tank which controls a latch member and releases a main float to allow opening of an inlet valve only after the tank has dropped by a predetermined amount.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,657 of Orr is disclosed as being an anti-flood toilet tank fill valve which utilises a catch mechanism arranged to catch a float means in the tank to prevent the tank from filling unless the flush lever is operated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,891 of Antunez is disclosed as an invention which is used in combination with a tank valve which utilises a sleeve-like inverted cup as a float. A releasable latch means mechanically holds the float and is released by a mechanical flush motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,366 of Ray et al has a leak detent apparatus for a toilet flush valve assembly in which an inlet valve to a toilet flush tank is controlled by an inlet valve control device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,448 of Campbell has a pendulum device on a float means which is disengaged from the float means when the toilet is flushed.
Some other arrangements of anti-leak devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,243,002-5,742,951-5,327,931-5,232,011 and 5,211,204.
The average toilet tank holds approximately 2xc2xd gallons of water which is replenished in about 60 seconds. This translates into 150 gallons of water per hour (or 3600 gallons in a 24 hour period.) that would inundate the surrounding toilet area until the water supply to the tank was manually shut off. It is quite evident how extensive the damage would be during a weekend away or even a day at work with no persons available to guard against this type of disaster. The present invention is designed to protect both homeowners and property owners from extensive water damage in the event of a breach of the integrity of the porcelain structure of the toilet tank for any reason, for example cracking, breaking and the like.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a combination comprising;
a toilet, the toilet having;
a bowl;
a tank connected to the bowl for storing water and to supply the stored water to the bowl;
a flushing means which releases water from the tank into the bowl;
a supply valve for refilling the tank with water after the flushing means has released all the water in to the bowl;
a float means for activating and deactivating the supply valve by floating in the water so that when the water is low the supply valve is activated and when the water is full the supply valve is deactivated;
and an anti refill device having;
a lock arm attached to the float means and has an end;
a lock device arranged to co-operate with the end for controlling the lock arm;
and a means activated by the flush means which activates the lock device and the end to release the lock arm so that float arm lowers and the supply valve can fill the tank after flushing;
the device is arranged to stop the float means from activating the supply valve when the flushing means is not activated the lock arm is held in place by the lock device and the end such that the float means does not activate the supply valve, wherein the end and the lock device engage to define a ratchet in which a plurality of teeth have a first side so that the lock arm slides against the lock device so that the float arm can activate the supply valve and a second side on the teeth being at an angle such that the float arm is prevented from lowering.
Preferably the device is mounted on a bracket which mounted onto an existing bolt in the tank and has a threaded shaft which is arranged to support the lock device.
It is preferred that the lock device has a pair of parallel horizontal arms in which each arm passes a respective side of the lock arm and wherein the arms are attached to a nut on the threaded shaft which is supported by a pair of locking nuts at respective sides of the nut on the threaded shaft.
Preferably the teeth are located on the end adjacent to the lock device and wherein the first side defines a top side of the teeth and the second side defines a bottom side of the teeth.
Preferably the means is arranged to release the lock arm from the lock device by engaging the end and causing a movement in a direction away from the lock device and the lock device has a tab which is curved upwardly and wherein the tab is arranged to engage the teeth.
Preferably the means has a shaft pivotally mounted to the lock device, wherein a weighted end on the shaft is pulled upwardly by the flushing means and wherein the flushing means has a chain and spring arrangement attached to the weighted end.
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a combination comprising;
a toilet, the toilet having;
a bowl;
a tank connected to the bowl for storing water and to supply the stored water to the bowl;
a flushing means which releases water from the tank into the bowl;
a supply valve for refilling the tank with water after the flushing means has released all the water in to the bowl;
a float means for activating and deactivating the supply valve by floating in the water so that when the water is low the supply valve is activated and when the water is full the supply valve is deactivated;
and an anti refill device having;
a lock arm attached to the float means and has an end;
a lock device arranged to co-operate with the end for controlling the lock arm;
and a means activated by the flush means which activates the lock device and the end to release the lock arm so that float arm lowers and the supply valve can fill the tank after flushing;
the device is mounted on a bracket which mounted onto an existing bolt in the tank and has a threaded shaft which is arranged to support the lock device.
Preferably the bracket extends horizontally along a bottom of the tank from the existing tank bolt to the threaded shaft.
One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: